Japanese cult leader sentenced to death

Eight years after the start of his trial, Shoko Asahara, the founder of the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Supreme Truth, was yesterday sentenced to be hanged for masterminding the 1995 nerve-gas attack on the Tokyo subway which killed 12 people and injured thousands of others.

Asahara, handcuffed and wearing a black tracksuit, stood in silence and showed no emotion as he was sentenced at the Tokyo district court for a crime that shocked the world and severely damaged Japan's reputation for public safety.

The 48-year-old, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, was also found guilty of planning the murders of 15 other people in a series of attacks on opponents of the cult and disgruntled members.

They included Tsutsumi Sakamoto, an anti-Aum lawyer who was killed with his wife and one-year-old son in 1989.

In June 1994, seven people died when the nerve gas sarin was released in the city of Matsumoto in central Japan.

Shogi Ogawa, the presiding judge, told a packed courtroom that Asahara had ordered his followers to develop stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, which were kept at the cult's compound in the foothills of Mount Fuji.

He said his crimes had "not only affected the families and relatives of the victims, but also threw our country and neighbouring countries into extreme fear".

Asahara's lawyers said they would launch an immediate appeal and then resign. The appeal process could take several years if it goes all the way to the supreme court. Eleven other Aum members who have been sentenced to death are also appealing against their sentences.

Asahara, who claimed he could levitate, pass through walls and travel in time, did not testify during his trial. After replacing his defence lawyers, he entered a not guilty plea and limited his comments to enigmatic outbursts, sometimes in broken English.

His lawyers claimed the crimes had been committed by rogue elements in Aum, over whom Asahara had lost control. But other followers testified that he had been personally responsible for planning and ordering the attacks.

On the morning of March 20 1995 Japanese television showed scores of office workers foaming at the mouth and coughing up blood on the streets of central Tokyo. Five Aum followers travelling on underground trains through Tokyo's district of government ministries had pierced plastic bags containing liquid sarin developed by cult scientists, who included graduates of Japan's most prestigious universities.

Hundreds of police were on patrol in Tokyo yesterday amid fears that cult members might attempt to disrupt the trial. More than 4,600 people queued for the 38 seats in the public gallery.

Reaction was mixed among victims' relatives. Some were angered by Asahara's refusal to explain his motives or to apologise for the crimes, while others said they were relieved.

"It was good to hear the death sentence that I had been hoping for," said Shizue Takahashi, whose husband, Kazu masa, an underground worker, died in the Tokyo attack. "I visited my husband's grave this morning and I came to hear the ruling with his spirit."

After the verdict, the remaining members of the cult, which renamed itself Aleph in 2000, said in a statement: "We once again deeply apologise to the victims' families. We feel the death sentence deeply in our hearts."

In the early 90s Aum boasted at least 10,000 members in Japan and overseas, often drawing support from disaffected young people interested in Asahara's philosophy - a mixture of eastern religions, yoga and the occult.

He said armageddon would come with a nuclear attack on Japan by the US, which only Aum members would survive.